Synopsis
Sergio Castellitto (Luc Bessons THE BIG BLUE) stars in this compelling religious biography of Francesco Forgione (1887-1968), better known to Catholic believers as the modern day saint Padre Pio. Directed by Carlo Carlei (THE FLIGHT OF THE INNOCENT), this made for TV film dramatizes the capuchin friar priest's intense devotion, which manifested itself in the appearance of
the stigmata the wounds suffered by Christ at Calvary for over fifty years. Based on the book by Renzo Allegri, the award-winning PADRE PIO deals with seeming religious miracles in a skeptical modern age and features Jürgen Prochnow (DUNE) and Adolfo Lastretti (MASSACRE IN ROME) in supporting roles.

I'm not sure just who--besides staunch Italian Catholics--is the intended audience for PADRE PIO: MIRACLE MAN. This very long bit of hagiography about the little boy named Francisco Forgione who grew up to become Sergio Castellitto--whoops: that's the actor who plays him as a man--and was eventually canonized by the Vatican, runs three-and-one-half hours and is divided into two parts. We only managed Part I, mostly because the movie is incredibly flat, despite Castellitto's usual good work and that of the rest of the cast.

Over a decade ago, the director Carlo Carlei made a near-classic of Italian cinema called "Flight of the Innocent" about a young boy whose family deals in kidnapping for profit. This remains a wonderful film, though Carlei has done nothing near its equal since. I realize that the director and everyone else concerned with this project, which was made for Italian TV, probably had to be on good behavior--which is not the best way to ensure anything approaching art. Still one might have wished for something more than this cross between "The Song of Bernadette" and an "Exorcist"-lite.

Interestingly enough, a few years after this 2000 film was made, Castellitto went on to make a much better movie--"My Mother's Smile"--in which he plays, and equally well, an atheist.